


The Great Kiss of Ronka

by Solovei



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: After the first set of quests but before the ones with the Viera sisters, Childhood Memories, Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, I haven't finished their entire questline yet so I don't know when this takes place exactly, M/M, Prophetic Dreams, Slice of Life, The First (Final Fantasy XIV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-10-05 08:22:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20485808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Solovei/pseuds/Solovei
Summary: Valan had thought they were done with Great Prophecies. Valan, apparently, was wrong.





	The Great Kiss of Ronka

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to [malachibi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/malachibi/) for beta-reading! :)

Valan would have been very happy if the whole business with the Great Serpent of Ronka meant an end to Quinfort’s prophesies. After all, now that one of them had finally come true, why bother with the rest? 

But Valan was not so lucky. Quinfort came at his studies with renewed fervor, spending hours writing down dreams and visions and what he believed to be portents of things to come. Not long after that fateful day, when it was their turn to cook dinner, a leaf happened to fall into the stewpot. Valan rolled his eyes and moved to fish it out, only for Quinfort to let out a loud gasp and pull his arm away.

“No! ‘Tis a sign. We must heed its warning,” he said with great urgency in his voice. 

Valan stared at the tall Drahn beside him, shaking his head in disbelief before gesturing emphatically to the pot. The leaf had begun to sink a little into the thick liquid. “Quinfort, it’s a _leaf_. Leaves fall all the time. We live in a forest, this is what happens.” 

“Fine,” Quinfort said with a huff, turning to leave with a swish of his scaled tail. But don’t blame me when all the leaves in the Greatwood fall and you will not have heeded my warnings.” 

Crestfallen, Valan looked at his departing friend. “... Are you not going to help me, then?”

“Nobody will be able to help us when the calamity comes!” came the reply. 

Valan let out a sigh of resignation and finally fished out the leaf, letting out a little yelp as his fingers touched the hot surface. 

\---

He had drawn the night watch, though it was odd to call it that given that he’d never himself seen what ‘night’ looked like. He remembered one of the old priests talking about it, long ago. 

As he gathered up his weapons and gear, Valan considered checking in on Quinfort before setting out, but remembered how the Drahn hated being interrupted during his dreams, and decided against it. After all, for all his worrying, Quinfort was able to take care of himself, and after all, what harm would come to him inside the village? 

When he got to the guardpost, Valan soon found his mind wandering, but in a very specific direction. Lately, it tended to always return to Quinfort, and he couldn’t rightly say why.

They were children when they met. Even then, many people found him odd, and none of the other kids would let him join in their games. Quinfort would speak in riddles and find the strangest things to be a source of amusement, and initially even Valan stayed away from him.

The day they became friends was seared in his memory, burning as brightly as the sky above - he had been playing on the shores of the lake, trying to perfect his cartwheel. Just as he tumbled down after his latest attempt, Valan realized with a start that his heartstone was gone. Panic overtook him. The adults had told him he must keep it near him always, lest his soul be forever trapped and unable to return to the Sunless Sea above. He searched frantically around the lakeshore, certain of his impending doom. So caught up was he in this that he didn’t notice Quinfort walking up and watching him with curiosity. 

“What do you want? I’m busy, go away!” Valan had snapped at him.

“You’ll find your quarry in a spire of green. The trees told me,” Quinfort replied calmly. 

Valan took off running for the nearest tree trunk, and sure enough, there it was, glinting faintly on the ground. He grasped it tightly, feeling tears running down his cheeks as he put the string around his neck once again. 

After that, he began to spend more time with Quinfort. They made up their own games, often sneaking into the abandoned fort despite the dangers it posed. As they grew and Quinfort’s gifts for the arcane became more pronounced, it was Valan who first approached Runar to ask him to take the Drahn youth on as an apprentice, knowing that Quinfort would never do it himself. 

And now… where were they now? He had been so scared for his friend, enough to ask a stranger for help. He was still scared, not knowing when the next big prophesy would drive him to seek some hidden truth in a place that Valan could not get him out of. 

\---

When he had returned from the watch and purified himself, Valan was somewhat relieved to find Quinfort in his usual place, writing his _Gospels_ as he called them by the blue candle-light in the ceremony chamber. It seemed that just yesterday they had come here for Toddia’s funeral, but he knew that Quinfort had always found it to be a place of focus and clarity. 

“Any good prophecies today?” Valan asked, sitting down beside his friend. Quinfort looked a little displeased, dark eyes narrowed as he flipped back and forth between the pages of his journal. 

“A vision came to me as always, but it was not the usual sort. I can’t decipher its meaning and Master Matoya is away, so I can’t consult her texts. It’s quite …” he paused for a moment, turning finally to look at Valan. Just then his eyes seem to take on a different shine, as if a sudden revelation had struck him. 

Valan tilted his head. “Quite what?”

But Quinfort was already setting down his book and quill, with deliberate movements. He turned to kneel in front of Valan, hands on his knees as though he were deep in prayer. 

Valan let out a nervous chuckle “Wh-what’s going on, Quinfort?” 

“It’s _you_. The beginning of the world, not the end. I was trying to interpret the prophesy as it pertained to the old Ronka heroes of legend, they’re known for their duality as you know--”

Valan did know this. Quinfort loved to talk his ear off about the Ronkan Empire, and Valan loved to listen to his stories, even if he sometimes took up more time than he intended. 

Quinfort had leaned forward, so close that the tips of his horns were almost touching Valan’s face. “But it’s not _one person_. It’s two people. You and me, Valan. Two people, as one, together. Do you understand?” 

If he had been anyone else, Valan would have been more confused than before. But he had long since learned to puzzle out what Quinfort was trying to say.

Valan thought about the deep fear that struck him when Quinfort had run off, when he couldn’t find him. He thought about how it chilled him deeper than the prospect of their world ending, deeper than the loss of his family or his home. 

Because, in a way - Quinfort _was_ his home. 

Quinfort, who had found his soul all those years ago. 

It seemed like the most obvious thing in the world for Valan to close the distance between them and claim his lips in a soft kiss. It tasted like berry porridge and roasted acorns, like every morning meal they had shared. Quinfort moved closer, knocking over his inkwell in the process, but neither of them cared. 

It also seemed very obvious that they should continue kissing, their soft wet breaths echoing off the walls of the cavern. Valan ran his hand over his jawline, where scale met skin, and wondered why he had waited this long. 

At least, until Runar came in to prepare for morning prayers and they decided to continue this beginning elsewhere. 

**Author's Note:**

> These two were so cute together that I just HAD to write a fic about them, despite the fact that we have zero worldbuilding for Slitherbough and most other things in The First.


End file.
